281. Gone are the days when Chinese people could expect cradle to death support from the government.
　　中国人可以指望政府提供从出生到死亡的资助的日子已经不复存在了。

　　282. The days when one could safely walk city streets at night are gone.
　　一个人可以在夜里安全地走在城市街道上的日子已经过去了。

　　283. China's population almost doubled to 1.2 billion people during the 1955-1995, according to the National Census Bureau.
　　根据全国人口普查局的数据，中国人口在1955年至1995年期间几乎翻了一番，增加到12亿。

　　284. A report by the Department of Education estimates that the student-teacher ratio in China is four times higher than in the United States.
　　教育部的一份报告估计中国的学生和老师的比例比美国高四倍。

　　285. Official figures released by the Ministry of Transportation show that motor vehicle fatalities have more than tripled since 1995.
　　交通部公布的官方数据表明机动车死亡事故从1995年起已经翻了两番多。

　　286. Women accounted for less than two percent of the total number of deputies to the National People's Congress in 1990, compared with almost 12 percent in 1998.
　　1990年，全国人民代表大会的妇女代表所占比例不到总人数的2%，1998年大约是12%。

　　287. Some 140 major state-owned companies have either declared bankruptcy or entered into mergers during 1998, up a whopping 75 percent on the total number for the 10-year period between 1985-1995.
　　1998年，已经有大约140个大的国有公司宣布破产或被兼并，与1985年到1995年这十年间的总数相比超出75%。

　　288. China's illiteracy rate has dropped by some 60 percent over the past few years, but nonetheless remains at one of the highest levels for any developing nation.
　　在过去的几年中，中国的文盲率下降了约60%，但仍是发展中国家中较高的。

　　289. The steady three-year annual rise in the export rate between 1995-1997 has been followed by steadily falling prices during 1998 and the trend is expected to continue indefinitely.
　　1995年到1997年，出口率持续稳定增长之后，1998年，价格稳步下跌，预计这一趋势会无限期地持续下去。

　　290. It is essential to examine every angle in order to fully understand the nature of a perplexing problem.
　　为了全面理解一个复杂问题的本质，必须从每个角度进行考查。